ATC
China commits to Compass satnav project
In a statement that surprised Western observers, China announced late last year that it will launch its own 35-satellite, GPS-like global navigation system

In a statement that surprised Western observers, China announced late last year that it will launch its own 35-satellite, GPS-like global navigation system over the next several years. Thirty of these satellites will fly in medium-earth orbits at around 12,000 miles altitude, similar to that of GPS, while the remaining five will be equally spaced around the equator in WAAS-like geostationary orbits and perform a similar service.

Chinese officials stated that the system’s signals would be “open” and free
of charge to users, who could expect worldwide positioning accuracy within 10 meters. It is understood that the Chinese military would have access to higher accuracies via encrypted signals.